Results 28,501-28,520 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 to 24, inclusive, together. The economic division in my Department assists me and the Government in developing and implementing policy to deliver sustainable and regionally balanced economic growth and quality jobs, as well as to promote effective planning and delivery of infrastructural developments, including housing. The Cabinet committees and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: On the last question Deputy Martin asked, there is a tracker on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's website which tracks all the projects, the timelines, when they are happening, which ones are running ahead of schedule and which ones are running behind and are not. The Deputy made a valid point in that construction inflation will not just affect the national children's...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is correct.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do understand these things. The Deputy does not need to lecture me. The Deputy is correct - it is income inequality in take home pay after transfers are taken into account.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It points out also that in terms of income inequality, it has been broadly stable for a very long time in Ireland. Therefore, the narrative that inequality is widening and that poverty is getting worse in Ireland is not correct. The TASC report, CSO data and EUROSTAT data all bear that out. It points out, as Deputy Burton rightly pointed out, that the tax and welfare systems are highly...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is done on the basis of recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission. The United Kingdom already has a living wage, but it is actually lower than the minimum wage here.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The key is not what one calls it, be it a "minimum wage" or a "living wage", because that is not-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: What is important is how one calculates it. I firmly believe that if one calculates it, one has to take into account the views of trade unions that represent working people and those of the public, but one also needs to take into account the views of employers and small business owners. One of the problems with the living wage as it is calculated in Ireland is that employers are excluded...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not incurred any expenditure for consultancy or audit services with the company in question during the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I travelled to Belfast on Friday 8th February for a series of meetings with each of the five main political parties in Northern Ireland including: DUP Leader Ms Arlene Foster; Sinn Féin Vice President Ms Michelle O'Neill; UUP leader Robin Swann; Alliance Party Leader Naomi Long and Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP. The meetings provided an opportunity to engage with the Northern...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts Data (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has no capital budget and therefore has not incurred any capital expenditure or overruns in the years in question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: All of us in the House will acknowledge and know that cervical cancer is a terrible disease that causes the death of many women and results in life-changing surgery for many others. We also know that cervical screening works and that the number of women who have cervical cancer has fallen for many years as a result of a successful screening programme and the introduction of the HPV vaccine...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that the people who built and ran CervicalCheck for a period did a good job. I remember the time before CervicalCheck, when women would present much later with a much more advanced disease than they currently do, and how different it was from the UK at the time. CervicalCheck is a good programme. Those who built it, managed it and worked there for a long time did a good job,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----that had significant retrospection bias, and they did not share the information about the audit with the women who were affected.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I regret that Deputy Martin did not acknowledge that in his comments because, while they did a good job, they did something very wrong in not disclosing that information to patients. I understand that there were different views about whether the out of cycle test should be offered. Some doctors thought it was a good idea. Others called for it. The Chief Medical Officer, who advises the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I understood they did after the event.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE finalised the report of a lookback paediatric audiology services review for the Mayo-Roscommon area for 2011 to 2012 in June last year. It was shared with all 49 affected families in accordance with open disclosure principles. The report and accompanying documentation sent to families from the HSE included an apology for the failures identified and for the anxiety caused to families...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Who is responsible for it? Obviously it is the clinician who made the mistake, carried out the hearing tests and either failed to diagnose or ensure the children and people affected had the proper follow-up. It is not about Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael or Micheál Martin or Simon Harris. I know that the Deputy tries to turn everything into a political attack, but, of course,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----or, having diagnosed the hearing loss, did not ensure the patients affected had the appropriate follow-up. The problem was identified internally. The HSE assistant clinical lead for audiology services identified the problem and acted on it. I understand the people who made the mistakes are no longer working for the public health service.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There are appropriate professional bodies that register people and that can sanction them by striking them off.